Fans of Vanderpump Rules have a lot of opinions on Raquel Leviss and her affair with Tom Sandoval.
Tom had been dating Ariana Madix for over nine years before he was caught sneaking around with Raquel, who quickly checked into a mental health facility to avoid the drama playing out in headlines.
Although the cast members continued to discuss the fallout of the drama during season 11 of the hit Bravo reality series, Raquel did not take part. Instead, she decided to avoid the drama by parting ways with Tom and changing her name to Rachel. It seems that she isn't a fan of using her birth name, however, as she has come up with a new nickname that she wants fans to use!
'Vanderpump Rules' Reality Star Raquel Leviss Has Changed Her Name Yet Again
Raquel Leviss is now going by "Rocky" after the "Scandoval" drama made headlines.
When Rachel Leviss first started on Vanderpump Rules, she was engaged to James Kennedy. However, the couple called things off. While single, she engaged in an affair with Tom Sandoval, which was quickly branded “Scandoval” by fans.
Amid the press coverage of the event, Raquel was widely criticized when it came out that her birth name was actually Rachel. Although she started using that name and changed her social media handles accordingly, it seems that she has decided to choose a new name for herself.
On May 29, 2024, Rachel shared her new nickname in a social media post on Instagram. On day two of the Lightening in a Bottle music festival, she revealed that she “embraced the name Rocky,” adding, “Close friends used to call me Rocky back in high school. It felt suiting for the weekend. What do we think?”
Fans Are NOT A Fan Of Rachel Leviss Changing Her Name To Rocky
Fans had a lot of comments about Rachel Leviss' new name and pretty much all of them were negative!
The comments on her Instagram post were just as savage as one might expect, given her past history. “You can change your name, change your address, you can even change your face, but until you change you are inside, none it will matter,” one user wrote, responding to how Rachel Leviss went through various cosmetic surgeries to drastically alter her appearance.
- “Maybe you could just try being your genuine self for a while?” another follower asked. “She doesn’t know who that is,” another user responded.
- “Nobody called you Rocky. Stop lying,” another netizen wrote. After one fan criticized their “mean girl energy,” the netizen responded, “I’m not being mean. Just being real.”
- “You can change your name as many times as you want but it doesn’t change the past or really anything for that matter,” another user shared while another follower told her, “You keep embarrassing yourself.”
Other users were worried about her mental health and accused her of “trying to create another identity” to avoid the fallout over Scandoval.
Are Tom Sandoval And Raquel Leviss Still Together After Their Affair?
Many fans of Vanderpump Rules are wondering where Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss stand now.
Season 10 of Vanderpump Rules was primarily focused on the affair that took place between Raquel Leviss and Tom Sandoval. During the three-part season 10 reunion, Raquel broke down the timeline of their relationship and revealed that they had even become intimate in the house that he shared with his partner of nine years, Ariana Madix.
When Andy Cohen asked Rachel about a motive, she said that she believed that “Tom and I had this connection” and that he made her feel “heard.” She went on to say that she loved him and he responded by saying that he was in love with her as well.
Despite their confessions, Rachel Leviss and Tom Sandoval are no longer together. In August 2023, she sat down with Bethenny Frankel on her podcast and explained that she was not actually as in love with Tom as she thought she was. “I believed I was in love with Tom at the time,” she recalled. “I now look back on it and see that I was not in love with him. I also don’t believe he truly was in love with me either.”
She went on to explain how harmful Scandoval was to her reputation. Raquel said that she went into debt after the affair came to light, which negatively affected her net worth. Ariana Madix, however, seems to have made millions from the scandal and appeared on shows like Dancing with the Stars.
Tom Sandoval Broke Down In Tears On Another Reality Show
Tom Sandoval also seemed to benefit from the scandal after being cast on another reality show.
Shortly after the affair came to light, Tom Sandoval was cast on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, in which contestants have to undergo a series of grueling physical and mental challenges. During one episode of the show’s second season, he confirmed that he and Raquel were no longer together, although he claimed that he tried to support her throughout the fallout of their affair.
During an appearance on the Two T’s in a Pod Podcast, Tom Sandoval insisted that he really did have feelings for Raquel Leviss and found their fallout heartbreaking. “We were best friends. It's heartbreaking to go through. I was fully in love with her. She's not just some hot girl. I was a model for 15 years. It's deeper than that,” he explained.
When he was asked if Raquel truly loved him, Tom replied, “I hope she did. The way she shooed me away. I don’t know. I’m not in her head.”
During season 10, fans learned that they had been close enough that Tom had actually introduced Raquel to his family amid their affair. By the time season 11 rolled around, though, Raquel was completely absent from the show. Although there were rumors that she was trying to “play hardball” to get as much money from the show as possible, she ultimately decided not to return and moved to Arizona.
Tom Sandoval said it “sucked” to film season 11 of Vanderpump Rules without her there in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “It sucked! Oh my god, it was not fun. It was very isolating and hard. It's going to be a very unique season. It wasn't easy for a lot of people because there's a lot of pressure from the public... so it's like if anyone is seen talking to me, they get backlash,” he explained.
Although he said that he felt “a sense of liberation” and “pride” for returning to the show and facing the aftermath of the cheating drama, Tom confessed that he still struggled with his mental health as he continued to suffer the consequences of the affair.
Although it seems unlikely that Rachel Leviss will return for season 12, the future of Vanderpump Rules remains uncertain, as a producer allegedly threatened to cancel it!
